


Leaving Behind The Old Life

by WandaRavenBlack



Series: Road to Crisis on Infinite Earths [6]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Coma, Dick Grayson is Renegade, F/M, Family Bonding, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Reading Aloud, Teen Titans References, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2020-12-31 08:15:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaRavenBlack/pseuds/WandaRavenBlack
Summary: EARTH 73When the island exploded, Slade got to Thea in time and ended up in coma himself. Oliver puts security inside and around his hospital room to make sure no one gets in. And then, one day, he watches with surprise a teenage boy climbing in through the window. Who is he? And what could he want from Slade?





	1. Renegade

A steady metal banging spread across the Foundry as Oliver was working out on the salmon ladder. At the table, Felicity was typing away on her computer, while keeping an eye on the screen next to her. It showed a hospital room, where Slade Wilson was lying on the bed. He was pale and hooked up to several machines. From time to time, Oliver would stop at the top of the ladder, glance over to the screen, and then continue with renewed anger. Every look at the screen, brought him back to the island and the explosion. 

*******

_ Oliver was running across the island, shouting everyone’s names, trying desperately to find them.  _

_ “Oliver! Oliver!”  _

_ He turned to where he heard Felicity’s voice. Seconds later, she came running to him, scratches all over her face and hands. She fell into his arms and he held her tightly as he saw the others hurrying over to him. As they came to a stop next to them, he looked around with fear.  _

_ “Where is Thea? Samantha?”  _

_ One more person was missing.  _

_ “Where is Slade? Are they with him?”  _

_ Diggle shook his head.  _

_ “We don’t know. Samantha took off into the woods and Thea followed her. Wilson told us to go and then ran after them. We haven’t seen any of them since.”  _

_ Without a word, they all spread around, looking for any signs of the three. Oliver was moving quickly, trying to figure out which way they could have gone, when he caught sight of Slade’s armor.  _

_ “I found them!”  _

_ Diggle was the first one to reach him, and helped Oliver turn the other man onto his back, only to gasp in shock when they saw that Thea was under him. Before they could say anything, the girl groaned and opened her eyes. She seemed confused for a few seconds, but then sat up quickly, Diggle holding her up before she managed to fall over. She turned to where Oliver was gently taking the mask off Slade. Seeing the man on the ground, she crawled over to them and gently lifted his head up, checking it for wounds. By now, everyone had found them and was standing around them.  _

_ “Thea. What happened?”  _

_ Oliver’s voice was strained.  _

_ “I… I followed Samantha. I was going to get her to come with us. I heard Slade following us but didn’t stop to look back. And then everything started blowing up. It… A mine blew up right under Samantha. She was torn apart and I stopped. I didn’t know what to do. That was when Slade caught up to me, grabbed me, and threw us both into the hole that had been left after the explosion. Last thing I remember was him covering me with his body and telling me that everything will be alright. Explosions started going off around us and I must’ve blacked out.”  _

_ Oliver nodded.  _

_ “He’s alive.”  _

_ Then he huffed out a small laugh.  _

_ “For all the times I teased him for that heavy armor, seems it’s the thing that kept both of you alive.”  _

_ Then he stood up.  _

_ “We need to get him to a hospital. Dig, you help me carry him. Felicity, can you help Thea?”  _

_ The woman nodded and they all frowned at how Oliver was clearly avoiding the subject of Samantha. As they were slowly making their way back to the shore, Oliver heard Thea whisper in disbelief: _

_ “He saved my life.”  _

_ And then he heard Felicity’s quiet answer.  _

_ “I don’t think he is that bad anymore.”  _

_ ******* _

“Oliver.” 

Oliver stilled in the middle of the ladder and looked down at her. 

“Yeah?” 

“Um… I’m not sure if this is important. But there is a creepy guy trying to get in through Slade’s window.” 

Not waiting for her to continue, he dropped to the floor and rushed over to the computer. Very real, there was a guy outside Slade’s window. But, what surprised Oliver even more, was the fact that he was wearing a mask. Very slowly, he opened the window from the outside and slipped inside. Oliver was shocked by his agility. The person looked around the room, his eyes moving over the hidden camera and both people in the Foundry felt their eyebrows shoot up. The boy couldn’t be more than 19 years old. He was dressed in a black suit with a red bird on his back and chest, and red stripes down his arms and two fingers. His mask was connected to the suit at the back and covered his eyes and nose, leaving his black hair to fall out around his face. To his back, he had strapped two Escrima Sticks. He was carrying a black bag that looked to be the right size to have a book in it. His eyes landed on Slade and he flinched back slightly, before walking over to the bed. The only thing that stopped Oliver from either rushing there himself or calling Diggle, who was on hospital security duty, was the hesitation in the boy’s steps. It seemed almost as if he wasn’t sure about being in the room. He kept looking around with worry. Then, all of a sudden, he sighed deeply and flopped down onto the chair next to the bed. He dropped the bag next to the chair and leaned back. He stayed in that position for a few minutes, in which Felicity tried to run a facial recognition on him, but came up with nothing, because of the mask. Oliver studied the boy’s body language. He was on edge, seemed to just be waiting for an attack. There was a certain feeling to the way he held himself, that made Oliver slightly worried. It was almost as if he was a hunted man. But his train of thoughts was halted by the boy finally speaking up. 

“It’s me. I…” 

He seemed to hesitate again, before his voice hardened. 

“B threw me out. Because I found out the truth.” 

He smiled slightly, his voice softening again. 

“I turned 18 a few months ago. Haly’s circus was back in town. They threw me a party. Said they wanted to celebrate it with me. B didn’t seem to plan anything big, so I went. After the party, Haly took me to the side and told me about my mother. He said that around 20 years ago, she fell in love with a man who had been sent on a mission to the circus, to protect someone. He fell for her, and they met on and off for a year. Then, he found out she was pregnant and took some time off. He travelled a bit with the circus, but then got an important mission and had to leave. He never came back, and my mom married John Grayson, who adopted her son and gave him his name. My name. When I was born, my mom made Haly promise that, if something ever happened to her, he would tell me about my real father when I turned 18. And I… When he described my father, I knew. The skills he described. Even back then, you knew how to fight.” 

Felicity looked up at Oliver, but his eyes stayed glued to the screen. 

“Did you know he had a son?” 

Oliver nodded. 

“Yes. Joe. But that can’t be him. Joe grew up with Slade.”

On the screen, the boy leaned forward a bit. 

“I didn’t want to believe him, at first. I went back home, back to Gotham, and asked B about it. And he… He’d known. When he adopted me, he took my DNA and ran it through his computer. It came back as a match to yours. He didn’t tell me, because he thought that if I knew, I would look up to you too much. I know that you weren’t Deathstroke back then, but he must’ve known that… That this was how you would turn out. So he kept me away, made me into a hero.” 

He said the last word with so much anger, that Felicity flinched slightly. 

“When I realized that he had known, when I realized that I still had family out there, I left. I ran away when he was on patrol and went to Superman. He always said that I could come to him for anything. He agreed to let me stay without questioning it, and I could finally think without B getting in the way all the time. I thought back to all those good days. The days when you would tell me about the island and Oliver and Shado. The days when you seemed more sane. And I remembered how you would calm me down from nightmares. I don’t know if you knew, but it would certainly explain your obsession with making me your apprentice. You didn’t stop, until my life was in danger. Anyone else would have just killed me and the Titans and found someone else to teach. But you gave up, because you didn’t want me to die. I started see things differently than the black and white that B had taught me. I realized that something more must have happened on the island, something you didn’t tell me about, because the man you were when you took me and the man that Haly told me about were so different from each other.” 

Felicity grabbed Oliver's wrist. 

“The mirakuru. He must’ve been still influenced by the mirakuru when they met.” 

Oliver nodded, his eyes never leaving the boy. He was still tense, but had stopped looking around him all the time. 

“I left Superman and used some of the money I had to make a new suit. Used your colours. Well, almost. I would look ridiculous in orange. And I took a new name. A more fitting one. Renegade.” 


	2. Dick Grayson

Felicity glanced up to Oliver. 

“Have you heard about him before?” 

He shook his head. 

“No.” 

On the screen, the boy sat in silence, just looking at Slade. Suddenly, he reached down and lifted the bag up. 

“You know, I remembered that I once asked you if you liked books, and you just started laughing. But then you got serious and told me that there is one book you’ve wanted to read for a while. You said that it meant something important to you.” 

He pulled a book out and Oliver sat down heavily when he saw the title. Felicity looked at him with worry. 

“Oliver?” 

He pulled a hand across his face. 

“It’s the Odyssey.” 

“So? What’s wrong with it?” 

He glanced over to her, collecting himself. Should he tell her? It wasn’t anything that could ever be used against him, and it wasn’t exactly painful to think about it. It was one of the better ones, since Salde had came back for him and risked their way off the island, to make sure he didn’t get killed. And that meant everything to Oliver back then. 

“Shortly after I met Slade, we got a chance to get off the island. Everything was going according to plan, even though I was most probably the worst partner he could have gotten at that time. I pretty much messed up everything I had to do and Slade had to save me. But then the plane radioed in, and said an odd phrase. Slade looked confused, but I recognized it from the only book I’ve actually read and enjoyed. The Odyssey.” 

On the screen, the boy fiddled with the book, clearly nervous. 

“You know. Jack, the clown from Haly’s, once tried his hand in acrobatics and fell off the trapeze. My dad managed to slow his fall slightly, but he ended up in a coma for a week. I was so worried about him, that I even slept in his hospital room. When he woke up, he said that he had heard everything that I said to him. So, I thought that maybe I could…” 

He paused, took a deep breath and opened the book. 

“Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations…” 

Oliver tuned out the boy’s reading and turned to Felicity. 

“Tell me if something changes.” 

Then he stood up and walked over to the salmon ladder, jumped up to where he had left the bar and started travelling up and down. He thought back to what the boy had said. 20 years ago. Joe would have been born by then. Did Slade really cheat on his wife? And that was when he realized something. Slade never talked about his wife when they were on the island. He talked about Joe, Billy, his training. But not about his wife. And he had fallen in love with Shado. He noticed that the boy’s skin wasn’t exactly white and wondered if that was a clue. Could Shado had reminded Slade of another woman? A woman he loved but didn’t stay with? Did that mean that Slade was divorced? Or was his first wife dead? When he had been researching Joe to find him, he hadn’t found one single word about where his mother was. And this boy. Who was he? He continued moving up and down the ladder, finding in calming. He could do it with his eyes closed and could easily let his mind slip away while he worked out. Thea and Dinah came down to the Foundry an hour later, Quentin coming in just minutes after them. By that time, Oliver had gone over to throwing tennis balls and pinning them to the walls with his arrows. Diggle came in ten minutes later, having left the guarding duty to a policeman, and Felicity finally explained everything to them. Then, she turned to Oliver. 

“Oliver. Mind coming over here for a moment? I think I might have something on our mystery guest.” 

Oliver switched the bow over to his non dominant hand and walked over to them. When Felicity glanced down at it, he sighed and put in on the table as far away from the screens as possible. After his failed attempt to teach Dinah how to shoot a bow and arrow had ended in one of the computers getting destroyed, Felicity had a very strict rule about bows close to her babies. Even if Oliver was the one holding them. Satisfied about her win, she pulled up a picture on one of the screens. Oliver glanced quickly over to the other, where the boy was still reading, his posture relaxed. The face that Felicity had pulled up was of a boy, around 18 years old. Looking at it, and the part of the masked boy’s face, Oliver quickly realized that they were the same person. 

“How did you find him?” 

Felicity smiled up at him. 

“Well, I started with what we knew. He said that his mother was working for Haly’s circus and that the man that adopted him was John Grayson. I found the circus easily enough and researched into all the past and present members. And that was how I found this.” 

She pulled up an article on another screen.  **‘JOHN AND MARY GRAYSON DIE IN A TRAGIC ACCIDENT’** . And another one.  **‘CIRCUS ACROBATS DIE IN AN ACCIDENT, ORPHANING AN EIGHT YEAR OLD SON.’ **

Quentin nodded when he saw the articles. 

“I remember that. It happened in Gotham, but it was all over the news in Starling too. Haly’s was well known for the Flying Graysons performing without a safety net. They were so good. Then, one day, the ropes snapped and the parents fell to their death, leaving the boy. Wayne was at the circus that day and he must’ve felt something for the boy, because he adopted him shortly after. I believe his name was Richard.” 

Felicity pulled up another article. 

“Yes. Richard Grayson, although all the articles say that he prefers being called Dick.” 

Thea made a shocked sound. 

“Dick? Who prefers being called Dick?” 

Oliver rolled his eyes. 

“That makes sense. Wayne’s name is Bruce. When he came into the room, he said that B kicked him out and…” 

He stopped his eyes widening slightly. Diggle tilted his head. 

“I know that look, man. What’s going on?” 

Instead of answering, Oliver leaned closer to Felicity. 

“Three years ago, were there any news about Wayne and Dick?” 

She typed a few things and nodded. 

“Yeah. They had a bad argument and Dick disappeared. Wayne said that he had been sent to a boarding school. How…?” 

But Oliver cut her off. 

“And now Jump City. Three years ago.” 

Felicity started typing again. 

“Nothing about Wayne, but there are many articles about some young heroes helping out in the city. They were led by Robin, Batman’s former sidekick.” 

Quentin caught up to what Oliver was getting at. 

“Dick was Robin? He had an argument with Wayne and then moved away.” 

Oliver nodded. 

“Exactly. What I don’t get is why Wayne would let him go.” 

Diggle suddenly groaned and flopped down onto a chair. Everyone turned to him with questioning expressions. 

“Wayne is Batman.” 

Felicity’s eyes widened. 

“What? How? He’s like one of the most uncaring people in Gotham.” 

Diggle nodded. 

“Exactly. And that’s why he is a perfect person to be Batman. Remember when Oliver was starting out? He kept acting like a playboy billionaire who doesn’t care about others. It’s the same thing. It has to be. Or, Wayne is just such a terrible father that he would let his adopted son just disappear off to another city without questioning it.” 

Oliver was opening his mouth to say something, when the boy on the screen suddenly looked up from the book he was reading. In the Foundry, everyone moved closer to the computer to see what would happen. Very slowly, Dick closed the book and put it on the edge of the bed. 

“I hope you like it. I have to admit that it’s not that bad.” 

Then he sighed and leaned back. 

“You know, I was slightly jealous back then. When I was your apprentice. It’s stupid, I hated you back then. But I was arguing with B and… You were the closest thing to a father I had back then. You were tough but, thinking about it now, you were never cruel when you trained me. Not the way I’m guessing you could be. I was angry back then. So angry. But I was also jealous. Because, whatever I did, I was never good enough. Because, whatever I did, I was never him. I was never Oliver.” 

In the Foundry, everyone turned to a shocked Oliver.


	3. I Need Your Help

Oliver was staring at the screen, not really understanding, when the boy continued. 

“I don’t hold it against him. He was the one you trained first. I know you saw him as a son. Whatever he did, you always cared about him. You turned him from a spoiled rich boy, to a warrior. I could never live up to that, not with the training B gave me. And, back then, I hated him for it. That he was the perfect one, and I was some kind of replacement. Lately, I’ve been thinking about it, and I realized that I was just a stupid kid. Especially since I thought that I could go against you with just a bunch of kids with me.” 

He smiled softly. 

“And don’t get me wrong about that part. I have forgiven you for what you did to the Titans. But actually trusting you after how far you went then will be harder. And as to Oliver, I don’t hate him anymore. I think I understand now. I… I actually see him as a brother.” 

He laughed quietly. Oliver sat down on a chair, everyone looking between him and the screen. That kid, Dick, saw him as a brother? Why? They had never met. On the screen, Dick seemed to be thinking similarly. 

“It’s funny. I’ve never even met him. All I know is from the stories you told me about him. But I’ve started looking up to him, always pushing myself to be like him.” 

Suddenly, his head snapped to the door and he seemed to listen carefully, before he shot up from where he was, ran over to the window and quickly climbed out. Observing him, Oliver could see that he had been an acrobat. Seconds after he disappeared, a nurse walked into the room and they watched as she closed the window, picked the book up from the bed and put in on the bedside table. Felicity muted the sound that came from the hospital room and turned to Oliver. 

“What are we going to do now?” 

He looked up only to see that everyone was watching him. 

“What time is it?” 

Lance glanced down at his watch. 

“Almost 10 pm. Why?” 

With sudden determination, he stood up and walked over to where his suit was. 

“I’m going out on patrol. If he worked with Batman, he might be out there patrolling at night.” 

Quickly, he suited up, grabbed his bow and left. He spent a few hours out there, stopping seven robberies, but the boy never showed up. He walked into the Foundry at around 3 am and looked around. The only person left was Diggle, who was keeping an eye on the computers. He looked up when Oliver put his bow away and frowned. 

“No show?” 

Oliver shook his head. 

“No. I swung by the hospital and checked the area around Slade’s window. It’s not easy. I’m telling you, Dig. This kid’s got skills. Even with all my training, I’m not sure I could have gotten up there without a grappling hook. But, when I got to the roof, there were no marks. Nothing.” 

He pulled his jacket off and sighed. 

“Everyone left?” 

Diggle nodded. 

“Yeah. Lance and Dinah have to get up early tomorrow. Thea was pretty much falling asleep on us, so Felicity took her with her back home.” 

He stood up and stretched. 

“On that note, I’m going home too. I want to catch some sleep before some new big bad appears. Don’t be up too late.” 

Oliver nodded, and Diggle left. Moving slowly, he pulled the suit off and changed into sweatpants and a S.T.A.R Labs t-shirt that he had gotten from Barry. He made sure that the sound was on from the hospital room and then collapsed on the sofa that Thea had insisted on installing in the Foundry. His thoughts drifted to the boy. He had met Slade when the man was still influenced by Mirakuru. It must’ve happened when Dick was around 15, since he mentioned the Titans. He remembered when Barry had told him about the Titans. He had just shrugged it off, saying that if those kids wanted to play being heroes, then everyone should just let them. If he had known that they were facing Slade Wilson on Mirakuru, he wouldn’t had dismissed them so quickly. But what to do with the boy? He said that he saw Oliver as a brother. Could Oliver see him that way too? He was unsure. He had trouble letting people close after the island. The fact that he even operated in a team was somehow a miracle. Realizing that he wouldn’t get any sleep, and that it wasn’t anything he could talk about with the others, he took up his phone and sent away a message. Not even a minute later, yellow lightning appeared and Barry came to a stop in the middle of the room. He grinned when he saw that Oliver was wearing the shirt from him, before getting serious again. 

“What’s up? You said it was something important.” 

Oliver nodded and sat up on the couch, Barry taking a chair and rolling it closer to it. 

“Yeah. I need your help.” 

The speedster seemed shocked by that, and Oliver almost grimaced. He was supposed to be the mentor in their relationship. He shouldn’t be here asking for advice. But, if he was being honest, Barry was one of the very few people he trusted completely. 

“So what’s the problem?” 

Oliver pointed towards the screen and Barry gasped, speeding over to it for a few seconds, before speeding back to his chair. 

“Is that Deathstroke?” 

Oliver nodded. 

“His name is Slade Wilson. He’s a… He’s not an enemy. He saved Thea’s life, almost at the cost of his own. I put him up in a private room, to make sure that no one gets to him, so imagine my surprise when someone managed to break in.” 

He walked over to the screen and pulled up a picture of Dick. 

“Know him?” 

Barry sped over to him, and his eyes widened, before he shook his head. 

“No.” 

A genuine smile appeared on Oliver’s face. 

“You wouldn’t survive five seconds where I’ve been.” 

Barry frowned at him. 

“You can’t lie, Barry. Or maybe you just can’t lie to me. Either way, you know something.” 

Barry had that expression on his face that told him that he wouldn’t get anything out of the speedster. He could use force. He could raise his voice and demand explanations. But, with Barry, it was never an option. That kid trusted him way too much. When he thought about them, he always thought back to himself and Slade on the Island. Before it all went to hell. When he was pushing all of Slade’s buttons, and the man would just shake his head at him. He still remembered hating when the man would snap at him, reacting better when he was let in on the plan. He had looked up to Slade back then. He still did, in some ways. Taking a deep breath, he spoke calmly: 

“His name is Dick Grayson. He used to be Robin, but runs around as Renegade now. He’s Slade’s son.” 

Barry sat down heavily. 

“He’s what? Poor guy. After all that happened…” 

He started talking to himself, so fast that Oliver couldn’t keep up. 

“Whoa. Slow down, Barry.” 

The young man looked at him apologetically and Oliver sat down on the other chair. 

“Alright. Tell me what you know.”

And, seeing the hesitation on Barry’s face, he added quickly. 

“I don’t need you to reveal his secrets to me. What I want is to find out what went on between him and Slade.” 

Barry closed his eyes and sat in silence for almost two minutes. And, for a speedster, that was alarmingly long time. When he spoke up again, his voice was careful and full of sadness. 

“After Robin came to Jump City and created Teen Titans, things seemed to look good for them. I was worried about a bunch of kids running around like that and, since you dismissed them so quickly, I decided to keep an eye on them myself. It went well for them. They managed to stop smaller criminals, until Slade appeared in the picture. He kept toying with them, and really got under Dick’s skin. That boy made it his own personal mission to bring Slade in. He even made up a villain persona and contacted him, to try to catch him. It backfired. Because of his obsession, Slade noticed Dick pretty quickly and most of his attacks were aimed at him. And then, one day, they figured out where he had hidden a bomb. On their way there, they ran into some kind of villain and Dick told the others to go find the bomb, while he took care of him. Then, he went after Slade. But he overestimated his own abilities. Everything that happened was Slade’s plan. He wanted Dick away from him friends. The bomb wasn’t a bomb. It shot probes into the Titans. Probes that Slade controlled. He threatened Dick that he would kill the Titan’s if Dick didn’t agree to be his apprentice. So Dick agreed. Two weeks later, the others found out what was really happening, and they managed to win over Slade. I don’t know how. Dick never told me. But, after that, Dick got even more obsessed. Slade played around with them for some more time, and then disappeared. Dick left the Titans a year ago and moved back to Gotham to work with Batman again. That’s all I can tell you.” 

Oliver was stunned. Dick had been Slade’s apprentice while the man was on Mirakuru. He thought back to the way the boy had been hesitant when he got close to Slade. What had happened between them? How bad had it gotten? And why, if it was so bad, did Dick come to Starling to see Slade?


	4. Sleep

He felt how tired he was, but decided to ignore it. 

“What is he like?” 

Barry frowned. 

“Loyal. Very loyal. Once you get his trust, he’ll do anything for you. Kind. A bit of a show pony. But I think that comes from the fact that he grew up in a circus. He loves to perform. But there is also this feeling to him. The feeling that makes you want to run away once he gets angry. Kinda like you.” 

Oliver glared at him, but there was no real heat in it. Barry looked him up and down and his frown deepened. 

“Why are you down here and not home?” 

The archer nodded towards the screen. 

“Someone has to keep an eye on Slade’s room. He’s made many enemies in his life. Many of them would like to get to him now that he’s comatose. I’ve taken the night shifts since it takes very little to wake me up.” 

Barry sighed, before sudden determination appeared on his face. 

“Go to sleep. I’ll keep an eye on him.” 

Oliver was going to argue, when a memory suddenly hit him. 

*******

_ Oliver was watching Slade sway a bit where he was sitting and cleaning his sword. He frowned. They didn’t know where Fyers was. They didn’t know if Yao Fei was alive. They knew nothing. And it was visibly putting Slade on edge. He slept around three hours every night. He barely let Oliver go to the stream alone. And, even though Oliver was feeling happy that the man actually cared about him, it was putting him on edge whenever Slade looked around with worry flashing across his face. The man needed to sleep.  _

_ “Slade.”  _

_ His voice was careful. He didn’t know if Slade was in one of his snappy moods. A grunt told him that it was more of a tired mood.  _

_ “You should go to sleep.”  _

_ Slade snorted.  _

_ “Sure. And let Fyers sneak up on us while we’re asleep?”  _

_ Oliver shook his head.  _

_ “I’ll keep watch.”  _

_ At that, Slade started to laugh.  _

_ “You? No offence, kid, but you’re not exactly my number one choice for a guard.”  _

_ For a moment, Oliver was just glaring at him. Then he stood up and started pacing around. Slade looked after him for some time, a frown on his face.  _

_ “Kid?”  _

_ Oliver spun around towards him, an angry look on his face. _

_ “When you had that infection, I took care of you. I kept watch, I barely slept, I hunted and fetched water. I even went to the cave, knowing full well that I could get killed or even captured and tortured,. But I still went. And you know what? There was someone there.”  _

_ Slade sat up straighter.  _

_ “A man, beaten up and bound. He told me that he was marooned here. That some soldiers had beaten him up and left him in that cave. He begged me to untie him and take him with me. To help him. And you know what I did? I left him there. I left him, because I didn’t know him. Because I couldn’t risk him turning on us and hurting you. Because, right now, you’re all I have. You’re my only friend and my only family and…”  _

_ He stopped, realizing that he had said way too much. With a headshake, he ran out of the plane, leaving a shocked Slade behind. He spent the entire night out, sitting in a tree, watching the night birds flying around. He knew it was dangerous to be out at night, especially alone, but he didn’t care. He had said too much. Yeah, it was true. He had started to see Slade as family. As a brother. Sure, he was harsh and training with him was painful, but he did come back for him. He blew his chance to get home, and came to save him. When the sun started to rise, he took a few hours to check all their traps, before heading back to the plane. He knew he couldn’t stay away forever. He shouldn’t have run away in the first place. As he approached the plane, he saw Slade sitting outside of it, sharpening his sword. He looked up when Oliver came closer, and the young man quickly fixated his eyes on the ground. He heard Slade stand up and stopped in the middle of the clearing.  _

_ “Look I…”  _

_ Slade cut him off.  _

_ “If we weren’t where we are now, I would put you over my knee, and then ground you for a month.”  _

_ Oliver’s head shot up, shock in his eyes. Slade had an angry look on his face.  _

_ “What were you even thinking, kid?! You don’t just run off for the entire night! Even if you were trained like me, being out there at night is not safe! You could have gotten killed! Or worse!”  _

_ “So what?! It’s not like you care! You’ve said it before! I’m hopeless! I can’t fight! I can’t hunt! I can’t even run through the forest without tripping at least three times! So why do you care about what happens to me?!”  _

_ The angry look changed into a dangerous one, and Oliver took an instinctive step back.  _

_ “Watch what you’re saying, kid. Because I’m seriously considering just putting you over my knee here and now.”  _

_ Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped himself. The tone of Slade’s voice told him that one more word, and the man would actually do it. And there was no way he could stop him from doing whatever he wanted. Slade nodded slightly.  _

_ “That got you to stop talking. Should have known. You’ve most probably never been punished by your parents for anything.”  _

_ There was no malice in his voice, and Oliver relaxed slightly.  _

_ “They let you get away with anything, right?”  _

_ Oliver nodded slowly, seeing that the dangerous look had faded away.  _

_ “Well, that’s not how it works here. From now on, you do something wrong, you get punished. Understood?”  _

_ The young man paled and started shaking his head, but stopped when he heard Slade speak up again.  _

_ “I won’t put you over my knee, if that’s what you’re worried about. Not unless you do something incredibly stupid. But I will come up with punishments for when you misbehave.”  _

_ And, when Oliver didn’t answer, he continued with a sigh.  _

_ “Listen, kid. You said that you see me as family, right?”  _

_ He stopped talking and, after a quiet moment, Oliver realized that he was waiting for an answer. Once again, he slowly nodded.  _

_ “Well, in that case I will treat you like family. And, since you’re younger than me, that means disciplining you whenever it’s needed. Are we clear on that?”  _

_ Another nod.  _

_ “Good. Now listen to me very carefully, because this thing between us is not going to work out otherwise. When there is a problem, we talk. You don’t just run off into the night. Fyers and his men are just waiting for us to split up. And, like it or not, you are an easy target.”  _

_ Oliver wanted to protest, but stopped himself when he realized that the man was right. He had been captured enough times to prove that.  _

_ “We share responsibilities. You take care of the traps, I take care of hunting. I cook, you wash the dishes. We take turns on night shift. I’ll take from dusk to midnight, you take midnight to dawn. We train once a day. How does this sound?”  _

_ The young man was beyond shocked and couldn’t get a word out.  _

_ “Kid?”  _

_ “Wha… Yeah. Sounds good.”  _

_ Slade nodded.  _

_ “Alright. Now to your punishment.”  _

_ Oliver, who had started to relax, tensed up again.  _

_ “Get inside, drink some water and wait for me.”  _

_ He quickly ducked inside the plane and sat down heavily on one of the crates. His parents had never punished him for anything. He could have murdered someone and they would have just looked at him with slight disappointment, before letting it all go. He drank some water, and then closed his eyes. What would Slade do? The answer to that question was easy. Whatever he wanted. Oliver might have gotten a bit better at fighting, but there was nothing he could do against Slade. As if on cue, the man walked inside, the sword back on his back. He looked around the plane, before nodding. He pointed towards one of the corners.  _

_ “Go stand there.”  _

_ Without a thought, Oliver stood up and walked over to where Slade was pointing.  _

_ “Turn around. Face the wall. Hands hanging along your sides. Look straight ahead.”  _

_ Oliver followed his commands, before suddenly realizing what was happening. He spun around towards Slade.  _

_ “Are you putting me in the corner?”  _

_ A glare from the man, made him turn back around and face the wall again. He heard Slade starting to train on the other side of the plane and sighed. This would be a long day.  _

_ _ *******

Oliver smiled softly when he remembered that time. He had stood in that corner for three hours. His legs had started to seriously hurt after two, but his stubbornness kept him standing. He had thought about much. About how he had disappointed Slade. About how he could have gotten killed. About how he could have gotten captured and tortured. He had a high pain tolerance. That had been proved when Wintergreen had tortured him the first time. But what did that mean? If Fyers got him, he was sure there was something the man could have done to make him talk. Make him tell them where Slade was. And that would put the man in deadly danger. Even he couldn’t fight all of Fyers men alone. After three hours, Slade had came up to him, helped him back to his bed and told him to sleep. Exhausted, both physically and mentally, he fell asleep, only to wake up in tears. Slade was there, telling him it was a normal reaction and sitting next to his bed until he fell asleep again. They didn’t talk about it in the morning, but Oliver never ran off into the night again. Looking at Barry, he saw himself. The him that was in the beginning of his island life. He saw the way he looked at Slade in Barry’s eyes when the kid looked at him. And that pushed him into making a quick decision. 

“Alright. Anything happens, wake me up. But don’t touch me when I’m asleep. Even with your speed, I could seriously hurt you if you try to wake me up that way. Just say something. I’ll wake up.” 

And he laid down on the couch again. Barry looked at him in shock, most probably not understanding why Oliver agreed so easily, before he grinned and sat back in the chair, turning it so that he could keep both the monitor and Oliver in his sight. With a huff of breath, Oliver closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep. 


	5. Titans

Oliver woke up to Barry’s quiet voice. Deciding to listen in on what the other man was talking about and who he was with, he pretended to still be asleep. It was clear that Barry was doing his best to stay quiet and not draw any attention to himself. 

“Yeah. I know. But you should consider it. He’s not that bad. I know the rumours and what cops say about him. But I also know HIM. He won’t be mad. I swear.” 

He listened for a few minutes, the other person most probably ranting. Oliver almost frowned. Who was the speedster talking to? And who was he talking about? 

“Look. I can’t change your mind. All I’m saying is that you should consider it. In the worst case, you know how to pull a disappearing act. Although, I still don’t get how you do it since I can move so much faster than you.” 

The other person must’ve said something funny because Barry laughed a bit louder and then Oliver felt eyes on him. He kept breathing calmly and the feeling disappeared, which meant the the speedster had looked away. He kept himself from smiling. The five years he had been away made him sensitive to people looking at him. 

“Just stay out of trouble, okey? And don’t give me the ‘trouble doesn’t stay away from me’ crap.” 

He listened for another minute. 

“Alright. And think about what I said. He’s not that bad.” 

Oliver waited for three minutes before sitting up and stretching. He turned to Barry, only to find the man smiling at him. 

“That was Dick.” 

Oliver frowned. 

“What?” 

Barry shook his head. 

“I’m not stupid, Oliver. I noticed when you woke up.” 

Oliver kept frowning for a few more seconds, before smiling at the speedster. He had himself been nagging Barry about being more aware of his environment. If anything, he had himself to blame. 

“You called him, or he called you?” 

Barry tilted his head slightly. 

“I called him.” 

“Does he know that we saw him?” 

The speedster rolled his eyes. 

“Of course not. I told him that I was just curious how things are going for him. Got his number when he was still in Titans. He told me the overall outline of what happened but I doubt that I know more than you. He knows that we know each other and he is extremely hesitant to contact you. I tried to convince him, but he can be very stubborn.” 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, only Barry’s fidgeting being heard. Then, Oliver stood up and sighed. 

“How was the night?” 

“Quiet. Dick took over patrol when he noticed that you went back here.”

Oliver froze. 

“Wait a second. He was following me?” 

Barry laughed. 

“Don’t feel bad about it. He was trained by Batman and Deathstroke. He can sneak up on almost anyone.” 

He stood up as well and grinned. 

“I’m hungry. You want something from Big Belly Burger?” 

“Breakfast sandwich. And fries.” 

Barry nodded and disappeared. With a fond smile, Oliver walked over to the computers and started pulling up pictures made by the news. When Barry reappeared he had four pictures up on the screens. The speedster put down his bag with breakfast and then sat down on the couch with his own food. 

“You get stains on the cushions and Thea might try to kill you.” 

Then he eyed the seven bags with burgers and frowned. 

“Did you pay for that?” 

Barry grinned. 

“Of course.” 

And he threw Oliver’s wallet at the archer. Oliver caught it and shook his head.

“You’re picking up bad habits around me.” 

He took out his own food, before pointing at the screens. 

“What can you tell me about those four?” 

Barry’s eyes widened slightly, before he shook his head. 

“You shouldn’t do this, Oliver. They might be young, but they are dangerous. And if they think that you’re threatening Dick, they could get violent.” 

Oliver sat down on a chair. 

“I just want to talk to them. I’m trying to figure this out.” 

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Then, Barry nodded. 

“Alright. I don’t know their real names. Dick is the only one who told me his. Cyborg is the oldest one. He was in some kind of accident and, to save his life, his father replaced the damaged body parts with cybernetics. Cyborg ran away from home because people kept making fun of him and ran into Dick and BB. That’s how they met. The green guy is Beast Boy. His parents travelled and he got bitten by a green monkey. Got Sakutia. It was, up till then, an untreatable illness. His parents tried a new serum on him and it cured him. But it also turned him green and gave him the ability to shapeshift. He is two years younger than Dick and the youngest of the Titans. Then there is Raven. Her and Dick are the most protective of each other. So if you really want to talk to them, be extremely careful with her. She is the daughter of Trigon. You’ve heard about him, right?” 

Oliver nodded, feeling worry. He had heard about Trigon. The fact that he had a daughter was shocking. 

“She’s more powerful than anyone we have ever met. Don’t know how she would fight against super speed like mine or Kara’s, but I’m sure she could figure it out. And Starfire. She’s from another planet. Tamaran. Out of all the Titans she’s the most forthcoming, most probably because she isn’t from earth. I think there might be something between her and Dick, but I never asked.” 

They spent the next 20 minutes in silence. Barry had finished his eating and was just going to pull his phone out, when the door opened and Thea walked inside. 

“Hi Barry.” 

Then she frowned. 

“Ollie. Did you sleep?” 

Barry smiled. 

“He did. I kept watch.” 

Oliver noticed Thea’s shocked expression and quickly started talking, to not let her comment on that. 

“I have a few things to do before patrol tonight. And they would go much faster if I didn’t have to drive around.” 

Understanding what he meant, Barry nodded. 

“I’ll help you out. Just let me text Iris.” 

His hands became a blur and then he stood up. 

“Done. You ready?” 

Oliver looked him up and down. 

“Go get your suit and come back here. I need to change.” 

Barry nodded and sped off. Quickly, Oliver closed all the tabs he had opened and pulled the feed from the hospital to the front. 

“Alright. Dinah should be here in a few hours. Keep an eye on Slade. If Dick goes to the hospital, don’t engage him. He’s not a threat.” 

Then he quickly changed into his suit. Just as he was fastening the quiver, Barry came back, munching on a donut. He put a box on one of the tables and grinned at Thea. 

“Donuts and brownies.” 

She grinned back. 

“Thanks.” 

“Alright. Let’s go. New York first.” 

Barry looked slightly worried, but he still sped over to Oliver, put a hand on his neck to steady it, and then sped off. They came to a stop in a back alley in New York and Oliver quickly started pulling his jacket off. Barry frowned at him. 

“What are you…?” 

“People will stare if they see Flash and Green Arrow parading on the streets, right?” 

Barry nodded. 

“So change into something more casual.” 

There was a blur and then Barry was standing in a pair of jeans and a S.T.A.R. labs T-Shirt. Oliver stretched the bow, quiver, mask and jacket over to him and, when the younger man grabbed them, made sure his long-sleeved black shirt was loose and casual. Barry glanced at the things he had in his arms, before speeding off for a few seconds, and reappearing without them. 

“I left them in my flat in Central. We can get them on our way back. Now. Are you sure this is the right place to start? I don’t think coming here first is the best idea.” 

Oliver just shook his head. 

“It is. Come on. I have the address.” 

They walked in silence, a few people glancing at Oliver’s leather pants, but no one seemed to really recognize him. They got to the address pretty quickly, and Oliver rang the bell. Barry looked around the hall. The entire building was pretty run down and the apartment doors were old. After almost an entire minute, the door opened and a pair of purple eyes looked at them with mistrust. 

“Yes?” 


	6. Raven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Oliver smiled while Barry shifted nervously from foot to foot. 

“My name is Oliver Queen. I would like to talk to you.” 

She looked him up and down, before tilting her head slightly. 

“Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested.” 

She had almost closed the door the entire way, when Oliver grabbed it and stopped her. She looked at him, warning clear in her eyes. Barry took a step back, but the archer just stared back at her. 

“We’re not selling anything. We’re just here to talk. Raven.” 

The red stone on her forehead started glowing and blackness surrounded her hands. 

“Who are you?” 

Barry, not wanting the situation to escalate, quickly stepped in. 

“My name is Barry Allen. We’re friends of Dick.” 

The glow disappeared, but she didn’t let go of the door. Oliver glanced back at Barry, and relaxed his stance a bit. 

“We need to talk to you about him.” 

“He never talked about you.” 

Realization appeared on Barry’s face and he sped out of the building and to the other side of the street. There, he grabbed a few flowers and sped back inside. The girl looked slightly startled when he appeared again, but then she nodded. 

“You’re Flash, right?” 

He grinned at her. 

“Yeah. Can we come in?” 

She glanced over to Oliver, before nodding. 

“Sure.” 

Finally, she let go of the door and took a step to the side to let them in. Oliver walked in first, Barry keeping close to him. She led them to the small living room and they sat down. 

“Talk.” 

Oliver glanced around. The room had very few things in it. A couch, an armchair, a coffee table, a shelf and a tv. On the shelf were two pictures. One of them showed a group of young teens in their superhero costumes. He recognized them from the pictures that he had found on the internet. The other picture was of Raven and Dick, without their suits. They were standing in front of a circus tent, an elephant standing behind them. She noticed that he was looking at it and a small smile appeared on her face. Just for a few seconds, but long enough for Oliver to notice the change. 

“It was taken in Haly’s Circus. They were in Jump a few years ago and Dick took me there.” 

There was fondness in her voice, which disappeared when she voiced her next question. 

“Why are you here?” 

Oliver sighed. 

“Do you remember Slade Wilson? Also known as Deathstroke.” 

Her gaze darkened considerably. 

“Slade? Yes. I remember him. He almost killed Dick. Twice.” 

“And if I told you he wasn’t thinking clearly?” 

She huffed out an annoyed breath. 

“Of course he wasn’t. He tortured and tried to kill us. He was obsessed with Robin. That’s not normal.” 

Oliver shook his head. 

“I don’t mean it like that. He wasn’t in his right mind. It…” 

She stood up abruptly. 

“If you’re here to excuse Slade's actions, then you better leave before I have to force you to leave.” 

Barry glanced at Oliver with worry, but the archer didn’t seem bothered. 

“You and me might not agree about Slade, but we both want to help Dick, right?” 

She remained standing and, for the first time since coming into the room, Oliver felt worry. Convincing the young woman would be harder than he expected. He realized that he would have to use a different tactic to get her to listen. With a sigh, he leaned forward. 

“Alright. I’ll put all the cards on the table. Just listen to me for a few minutes. If you still want us to leave after that, we will.”

Very slowly, she nodded and sat down again. Oliver immediately started talking. 

“Slade and I met before you met him in Jump City. We met on an abandoned island and became friends. He got badly wounded and we decided to inject him with Mirakuru, a miracle cure. It saved him, but changed his mind. He gave into his rage and started killing and torturing. He lost his morals. One day, he turned up in Starling and wreaked havoc. Many innocent people died. We managed to cure and stop him and put him in prison. In the end, his mind came back to him and he started becoming the man I knew on the island. Some time ago, him and my team were on the island while I was trying to take down the man who put us there. The island exploded and he saved my sister’s life, ending up in a coma himself.” 

Raven rolled his eyes. 

“Wow. Kudos to him for saving someone. It completely erases everything he did in the past.” 

Barry quickly spoke up, before Oliver had the chance to even open his mouth. 

“Dick visited Slade in the hospital. And read a book for him.” 

Her eyes widened slightly. Oliver took the opportunity to start talking again. 

“We need you to tell us what happened in Jump City between the Titans and Slade.” 

She looked at them for a few minutes, visibly battling with herself. 

“How much do you know about Dick?” 

Oliver raised his eyebrows. 

“That depends on how much you know.” 

She glared at him. 

“I’ve been in his head. We are connected through our minds. I know everything about Dick, just as he knows everything about me.” 

“Well, in that case. We know that he was Robin. He worked with Batman, who is Bruce Wayne. He was raised in a circus.” 

He paused for a moment, before looking her straight in her purple eyes. 

“He’s Slade’s biological son.” 

She froze. For almost an entire minute, she just stared at them. Then, out of nowhere, black energy surrounded them both and pushed them against the wall. 

“Who are you really and what do you want with Dick?” 

Her voice had almost an inhuman growl under it. Barry tried to move, but the energy just tightened around him. 

“Don’t move.” 

She walked over to the coffee table and picked up her phone. Oliver was on his way to say something, when the energy spread up to cover his mouth and he found that no sound would come out. She punched in a number and put the phone up to her ear. 

“Dick. It’s me. Where are you? What? Why?” 

She frowned as she listened. 

“Does this have anything to do with Slade?”

She listened a few seconds, before shaking her head. 

“Dick. Breathe. I actually called for a reason. I have two men here. They say they are the Flash and Oliver Queen. And they say that you are Slade’s son.” 

Oliver started moving, hoping that she would be too distracted to notice it. As soon as he moved, purple eyes glared up at him and he stilled. 

“Are you sure? Alright. I trust you. Call me if you need some help.” 

She hung up and the power pulled back towards her, letting the two men go. Barry stayed next to the wall for safety reasons, but Oliver stepped closer to her. 

“What did he say?” 

She looked at him with an emotionless face. 

“Dick will be waiting for you in your headquarters. But mark my words. If you hurt him in any way, nothing will protect you from me. Nothing.”

“I’m not going to.” 

Raven shook her head. 

“Say whatever you want. I don’t believe you. I don’t believe anyone when it comes to Dick’s safety. Now get out of here.” 

Before Oliver could say anything, Barry sped over to him, grabbed him around the waist and ran. He didn’t stop until they were in Central City, in his flat. Oliver glared at him. 

“What?” 

“I had a few more questions for her.” 

The speedster threw his hands in the air. 

“Oliver. Listen to me. That girl is the most dangerous person I know. She could destroy worlds if she wanted to. I told you that this wasn’t a good idea.” 

Oliver’s glare softened and he actually smiled. 

“I got what I wanted.” 

“What?” 

The archer sighed. 

“Just think about it. You yourself said that Dick didn’t want to talk to me, right?” 

Barry nodded. 

“Last night, I didn’t know he had been following me. Which means that I wouldn’t be able to track him down myself. If I tried to hunt him down, he would have ran. I had to get his attention in some way. If we had gone to one of the other Titans, he would have been scared off or provoked. And, if he was trained by Slade and Batman, I don’t want to provoke him. Going to Raven was the only thing I could think of. She can take care of herself, Dick must trust her. You said it yourself. Dick and Raven are close. I wanted to talk her into getting him to talk to me. Didn’t exactly work that way, but the results were the same. I get to talk to him.” 

The speedster shook his head with disbelief. 

“This could have gone so badly.” 

Then he took a deep breath, and pointed at the couch. Oliver, seeing that his jacket, bow and quiver were there, quickly walked over there and suited up. He didn’t put the mask on. Dick knew who he was. As soon as he was done, Barry grabbed him around the waist again and sped off to Starling. They came to a stop in the middle of the Foundry and both froze when they noticed the scene in front of them. Dick was standing there, with his escrima sticks drawn. Felicity was sitting in a chair next to the computers. Thea and Diggle were next to her, the girl pointing an arrow straight at Dick’s chest, while Diggle had drawn a gun. Noticing them, Dick shifted slightly, making sure to keep them all in sight. Oliver almost cursed. The boy was readying himself for an attack. 


	7. Why Are You Here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Oliver quickly moved down and put his bow on the ground. Then he stood up, holding his hands up in a calming move. The boy didn’t relax, so he glanced over to the others. 

“Thea, Dig. Stand down.” 

Diggle exchanged a look with him and then put his gun away. Thea didn’t move, until Felicity put her hand on the girl’s elbow. First then, did she lower her bow and put it on the table. Seeing that the situation on that front was under control, Oliver turned back to Dick. The boy had relaxed slightly, but there was still clear mistrust in his eyes. 

“You can put those away, Dick. We won’t hurt you.” 

Dick frowned at him. 

“You think you would be able to hurt me?” 

Oliver was slightly taken aback by that, but didn’t let it show. 

“Maybe. I’m not sure. And I don’t want to try it.” 

That seemed to finally calm the boy down. He let his sticks hang down along his sides, but didn’t put them away. Oliver noticed that he was still in his suit and a sudden thought struck him. If Dick was on the run, did he even have any clothes to change into? Or had he been wearing the suit ever since he ran away? The boy noticed his thoughtful expression and frowned again. 

“Don’t do that.” 

Oliver tilted his head. 

“Don’t do what?” 

“Don’t try to figure me out. Batman always did it. And I would rather not be reminded of him. Not right now at least.” 

Oliver nodded. 

“I understand. I was just wondering if you had any clothes to change into. Or if you had been wearing that suit for a longer time now.” 

Dick glanced down at the suit and, when he looked up, there was hesitancy in his expression. 

“I haven’t been able to buy any clothes. Any purchases made with my card would have alerted Batman. And I’m not going to steal clothes.” 

Oliver nodded. 

“We have some extra change here. Mine and Dig’s might be too big for you, but we should have some of Roy’s old clothes somewhere here. Dig. Could you go look for them?” 

“Sure.” 

The man walked off, Dick’s eyes following him until he disappeared into the changing room. Then he turned back to Oliver. 

“I don’t need your charity.” 

“You’re the son of a friend. It’s not charity. It’s just a helping hand.” 

With a sigh, Dick put the escrima sticks back in their holsters. 

“You have cameras in his room, right?” 

Oliver nodded slowly. 

“Should have thought about that. But I didn’t expect anyone to care that much about him. Didn’t think anyone would have any reason to. So what do you want from me?” 

Oliver noticed Diggle coming back and nodded towards him, that one movement shifting the boy’s attention towards the other man. 

“First of all, take those clothes and go change. You can take a shower as well. There should be clean towels somewhere in there. And leave your suit somewhere in there too. Then we’ll talk.” 

Dick looked him up and down with mistrust and Barry decided to step in. 

“Dick. You can trust him.” 

The boy glanced over to him. 

“How?” 

“He’s nothing like Batman, if all of your stories are true. He will listen. And he won’t judge you. Now go change. And take care of yourself. I have to run back to Central City.” 

He waited until Dick nodded, and then sped off. With one last look at Oliver, Dick grabbed the clothes and walked into the changing room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Thea turned to Oliver. 

“What is he doing here? And why is he here?” 

Oliver sighed. 

“Me and Barry went to meet a friend of Dick’s. She contacted him and he agreed to come here. I don’t think he expected either of you to be here.” 

He picked up his bow, walked over to the glass case and started changing into ordinary clothes. 

“Look. Let me handle talking to him. If he was trained by both Slade and Batman, he will be extremely dangerous if he decides to attack us. So I would rather avoid that. Alright?” 

Everyone nodded and went back to their tasks while they waited for the boy to come back. Felicity was once again working on her computer and keeping an eye on Slade’s hospital room. Thea had put her bow and arrows away and was looking through a magazine, while Diggle started cleaning his gun. Oliver just sat on the couch, deep in his thoughts. He was honestly worried about what would happen. Dick was dangerous and he would rather not be forced to fight him. They sat in silence for around ten minutes. Then the door to the changing room opened and Dick stepped out in Roy’s old jeans and one of his red hoodies. He was holding both escrima sticks in one hand, but his grip on them was loose and relaxed. He stopped in the open space a bit away from them, making sure that he could see them all at once. Oliver sighed. 

“We don’t want to fight you, Dick. We just want to talk.” 

“About what?” 

Oliver pointed towards the other side of the couch and Dick hesitated for a few seconds, before walking over there and sitting down. A small sign of trust. It really wasn’t much, but Oliver was going to take anything he could with the boy. Thea stood up slowly, grabbed the box with donuts that Barry had given her earlier and started walking towards Dick, the box held out in front of her. He looked at her with suspicion, his hand tightening around the weapons, but didn’t make any moves to attack. She came to a stop in front of him and nodded towards the box. 

“Here. We’ve all already had some. You should eat.” 

The boy seemed to hesitate again. But then he grabbed the box from her and gave her a small smile. 

“Thanks.” 

He put the sticks next to him, making sure that they were resting against his hip and were easy to grab, and opened the box. There were two donuts and one brownie left and Dick started eating quickly. Diggle frowned at him. 

“Whoa. Slow down or you’ll choke.” 

Dick glanced over to him and struggled to swallow a too big bit of the donut. He coughed a few times, before taking a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Oliver exchanged a look with Diggle, before addressing the boy. 

“When was the last time you ate?” 

The fact that Dick had to think about the answer to that question worried him. 

“I haven’t eaten a real meal in a few days. As I said, I didn’t want to use my card to buy anything. And the money I managed to grab before I ran away ran out. So I’ve been mostly eating what I could find in dumpsters.” 

Before Oliver could even fully process that, Felicity spoke up. 

“I just sent a message to Lance. He’s on his way here and he will bring pizzas with him.” 

The boy looked at her with slight disdain. 

“I already said that I don’t need your charity.” 

He put the box on the couch and stood up. Oliver noticed that he had eaten only one donut and that he was tense again. Thea shook her head. 

“This isn’t charity. We just want to help you.” 

Diggle nodded. 

“I don’t think Wilson would be so happy to know that his son was eating out of dumpsters when we could have offered him food.” 

Dick snorted. 

“Oh he would be amused to see me reduced to that. He always tried to break me. Tried to shape me into something that I would never be. He would have loved to know that I was walking around starving for days, sleeping in back alleys and not having anywhere to go. He hated me.” 

Oliver tilted his head. 

“Then why are you here?” 

That made Dick look at him with questioning eyes. 

“If you believe that he hates you, why did you come here? I understand that you and Batman fell out with each other. But there are so many other places you could have gone. You know Barry. I’m sure he would have taken you in and helped you. And I’m also sure that your Titans friends would have helped you as well. You have the entire world to go to, but no. You chose to come to Star City, to Slade. Why?” 

The boy paled at that but, before he could answer, the doors opened and Lance stepped inside. He was carrying four boxes of pizza and looking down at them to make sure that he didn’t drop them. 

“Felicity texted about bringing extra pizzas. Are we having a visit?” 

He looked up when no one answered and stopped when he noticed Dick. The boy was once again clutching his sticks and Oliver almost sighed in frustration. He needed to get Dick to start trusting them. But he had no idea how to do it.


	8. Two Birds

“Dick. This is Quentin Lance. He’s a friend. You can trust him.” 

Dick glanced at him, before slightly lessening his grip on the escrimas and relaxing back into the couch. Lance walked over to the table and put the pizza boxes on it. Immediately, Thea grabbed one of them, walked over to Dick and stretched it out. He looked at her with a frown, before grabbing the box, putting it on his lap and opening it. The smell of pizza spread through the room and the boy quickly started eating. Lance frowned at him. 

“You alright, kid?” 

With his mouth full, Dick nodded. Then he hesitated and shrugged. Lance shook his head at that. 

“What is it with you vigilantes and being all cryptic?” 

Dick looked at him with surprise, and then suddenly smiled. 

“You remind me of Gordon.” 

Lance tilted his head. 

“Gordon? Commissioner Gordon? From Gotham?” 

The boy nodded. 

“Yeah. You know him?” 

“I’ve been in contact with him before. He’s a big name in Gotham. One of the few non corrupt cops.” 

Dick rolled his eyes. 

“You think Gotham is bad? You should see Bludhaven.” 

Lance sat down in a chair and sighed heavily. 

“Kid. No cop in their right mind would go to Bludhaven.”

“I don’t know. I think that it might be a good idea to start work there. Maybe clean things up in the city.” 

Oliver was watching the exchange in surprise. The boy seemed much more relaxed with Lance than he had been with the rest of them. 

“You want to be a cop?” 

Dick nodded. 

“Yeah. It sounds nice. Being able to help people during the day as well. Not having to hide in the shadows all the time.” 

The policeman studied him for a moment, before nodding with a thoughtful expression. 

“You know, we have a police academy here in Star City. I could put in a word for you, if you want.” 

“You’d do that?” 

There was sudden hope in the boy’s voice. 

“Yeah. You’d have to show all your school grades and all that, but we could fix something. I mean, who better to have as a cop, than someone who is working as a vigilante. You’re pretty much already in the force.” 

Dick grinned at him, looking really happy for the first time since Oliver first saw him. Thea picked up a piece of pizza and took a bite, before asking with food in her mouth. 

“How long have you been a vigilante?” 

“Since I was nine.” 

Thea’s eyes widened. 

“What? Why?”

Dick shrugged. 

“I wanted to take revenge on the man who killed my parents. I almost got myself killed, when Batman agreed to help me out. He made me into Robin. I worked with him for some time, then worked with Teen Titans, then went back to Batman again.” 

Seeing the way the boy was clearly more and more relaxed with them, Oliver decided to stay silent and just watch. Felicity leaned back in her chair. 

“And he was alright with a child being a vigilante?” 

Dick shrugged. 

“He never said anything against it, so I guess he was.” 

Diggle decided to join into the conversation, seeing that the boy was more willing to talk. 

“How did you meet Wilson? Seems like you two have some history.” 

The boy hesitated, before nodding. 

“Yeah. When I was with the Titans, we fought against him a few times. He got obsessed with me and was set on doing anything he could to make me his apprentice. During one of our missions, he made sure we were separated and shot the other Titans full of probes. Whenever he wanted to, he could activate the probes and make them pretty much torture the Titans to death. To prevent that, I agreed to be his apprentice. In the end, the others figured it all out and got me out of there. Slade stuck around a bit, and then suddenly disappeared.” 

Making sure to keep his voice as casual as possible, Oliver finally spoke up. 

“By my calculations, Slade was on Mirakuru when you were his apprentice. How was it?” 

Dick looked at him, his blue eyes searching his face for something. He must’ve found it, because his posture relaxed again. 

“It wasn’t pretty. He was violent. Extremely violent. Anything could set him off. During those two weeks, he bruised me up more than B during the years I’ve trained with him. He was seldom happy with what I did. Almost always angry, although it was hard to see it. He could keep his expression calm and collected, even seconds before he hit me.” 

He smiled sadly. Thea was staring at him with horror. 

“And you still came here to see him?” 

Dick shrugged. 

“I don’t know why I did it. Maybe I realized something was wrong with him back then. Maybe I wanted to try again. Slade was abusive, yes. But he never lied to me. He hit, abused and humiliated me. But he never lied. He was brutally honest, you could say.” 

He didn’t get to say anything more, because the doors opened and Raven stepped inside, her long cloak flowing around her and her hood up over her head. Dick quickly put the pizza box to the side and stood up. 

“Rae?” 

She pulled her hood back and gave him a small smile. 

“Hallo, Dick.” 

He rushed forward and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back, shooting the others a glare behind his back. They pulled away from each other and Dick shook his head in disbelief. 

“What are you doing here, Rae?” 

“I decided to check in on you when I heard the news. You’re Slade’s son?” 

Dick nodded, his head lowering. Raven frowned, grabbed his chin and raised his head again so that he was looking at her. 

“Don’t worry. I’m not here to judge. I guess having evil fathers is one more thing we have in common.” 

Dick shrugged. 

“I’m not sure he is evil.” 

Raven tilted her head, and Dick explained quickly. 

“He was affected by a drug. Mirakuru. I heard about it before, but didn’t know that Slade had it in him at the time.” 

“And what did Bruce say about this?” 

Dick tensed up slightly. Seeing that, Raven put a hand on his arm. 

“Dick?” 

“He knew. He knew all along. And he didn’t say anything.” 

She sighed heavily. 

“Do you know what you’re going to do now?” 

Dick glanced back to Lance, a small smile appearing on his face. 

“I think I might stick around here for some time. I got a good offer. And I want to talk to Slade. The real Slade. Not how he was when he was on Mirakuru.” 

She thought about it for a moment, before nodding. 

“Alright.” 

She turned to Oliver and raised her eyebrows. 

“Do you think you might have place for two birds?” 

Seeing that as an opportunity to keep Dick where he could keep an eye on him, Oliver nodded quickly. 

“Sure. I can get you a flat, if you’re alright with living together.” 

Dick started to protest immediately. 

“I don’t need your…” 

“Charity. I know. Let’s make this a loan. I’ll pay for your flat for now and, when you get a job, you can pay me back. How does that sound?” 

Very slowly, Dick nodded. 

“Alright. That sounds alright. Rae? You good with sharing?” 

She smiled at him. 

“Yeah. Of course.” 

Thea flew up from her seat, a wide smile on her face. She skipped over to Raven and linked their arms together. 

“Let’s start looking for something for the two of you, shall we?” 

And she pulled the stunned girl towards the table. Lance stood up and took a few steps towards the doors. 

“I have to go back to the station. Dick. I’ll talk to a guy I know in the academy. If you find your school records, I could see how soon we can have you enrolled.” 

Dick nodded. 

“That would be nice. Thank you.” 

Lance patted him on the shoulder and looked back at Oliver. 

“Call me if something happens.” 

Oliver gave him a quick nod and stood up to walk over to Felicity. The woman looked up at him with a smile, before turning to her computers. She pulled up the feed from Slade’s room on one screen and some of her own work on another. Oliver smiled at her, before turning to Dick. 

“Are you good with those sticks?” 

Dick glanced over to the escrimas that he had left on the couch. 

“Yeah. Why?” 

Oliver pointed towards the training mats. 

“I have some in wood. You wanna show me what you can do?” 

The boy hesitated, before nodding. 

“Sure. Why not?” 

Oliver led the way to the mats, Diggle settling on the couch to watch them. 


	9. This Is My City

Oliver was getting more and more excited. Ever since Slade, he hadn’t been able to find anyone who could keep up with him in training. Even Sara had trouble keeping up with him. But now, he seemed to have found someone right. Dick was keeping the same tempo as him. During the 20 minutes they had been going on, the boy hadn’t faltered even once. Every time Oliver changed the rhythm and tempo, Dick would take exactly three seconds to fall into the new one. Every trick Oliver tried, the boy easily countered. It was really refreshing. They kept going for a few more minutes, before Oliver noticed something. Dick was keeping to defense all the time. He blocked every hit and attack, but didn’t make any of his own. The archer frowned. 

“Come on. Fight back.” 

Dick tilted his head, their rhythm never faltering. 

“I don’t want to hurt you.” 

Oliver rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t worry about that.” 

The boy seemed to think about that for a few seconds, before nodding. 

“Alright. Your choice.” 

And he attacked. Oliver actually stumbled back, suddenly having trouble keeping up. At the table, Thea and Raven were watching them with interest. Raven was clearly amused, even though she did her best to keep her expression empty. Thea was openly grinning. Oliver had beaten all of them on several occasions and it was satisfying to finally see him getting beaten. Dick kept attacking with force and speed that Oliver had not expected. After a few minutes, he found himself on the ground, his lip bleeding from where Dick had struck him. The boy stopped in a resting stance, looking down at Oliver with a smirk. 

“You were saying?” 

The archer looked up at him with surprise. 

“How did you do that?” 

Dick shifted both sticks into one hand and stretched the other one to Oliver. He grabbed it and let himself be pulled up to his feet. 

“Slade was big on training with escrimas.”

He grabbed one stick in each hand and raised his eyebrows. 

“Wanna go again?” 

Oliver nodded and they started again. For a few minutes, they kept an even pace, before Dick started attacking again. Being more prepared for it this time, Oliver managed to fight back for the exact amount of seven minutes, before he was on the ground again. He looked up at Dick, who was once again in a resting stance. 

“You had enough?” 

Oliver shook his head. 

“No. Let’s go again.” 

He stood up and attacked without any warning. Even this time Dick got him on the ground within minutes. On the couch, Diggle leaned back and started laughing. Dick turned to him with a frown and the man shook his head. 

“It’s nothing. I’m just happy that someone finally managed to beat Oliver at this.” 

Dick shrugged. 

“He has potential.” 

Diggle laughed again, but it was cut off when Felicity suddenly spoke up. 

“Guys. Something is happening in Slade’s room.” 

Everyone turned to the screen. Very real, a man was standing in the room, looking down at Slade. Seeing him, Dick dropped his escrimas. Seconds later, his shock changed to anger. 

“How dares he come here?!” 

Everyone turned to him. 

“Who is that?” 

But it was Thea who answered. 

“That’s Bruce Wayne.” 

Oliver’s eyes widened. 

“Felicity, Dig. You two stay here. Raven. You too. Thea, Dick. You’re coming with me.” 

Diggle frowned. 

“You want us to stay here?” 

Oliver nodded. 

“Yeah. Oliver Queen is the one funding Slade’s medical help. It’s only natural that me and Thea go there. And I want Dick to come there with us, since Wayne could be here because of him. The rest of you stay here. Keep an eye on the screen. If anything seems to be going wrong, call Lance and ask him to get there with the police.” 

Thea rushed out of the room, only to come back seconds later with a pair of black jeans and a pair of shoes. 

“Ollie. Change into this. Green leather pants are not what people expect of Oliver Queen.” 

Then she ran out again, only to come back with a leather jacket. She handed it to Dick. 

“Here. It’s Ollie’s old one. Should fit you.” 

Dick pulled it on quickly, while Oliver changed into the jeans Thea had gotten them. As soon as they were done, the three of them rushed outside, Oliver getting in behind the wheel of the car. Thea and Dick jumped into the backseat and Oliver started driving. They got to the hospital in five minutes and hurried upstairs. As soon as they were in the right corridor, Oliver slowed down and walked over to the policeman who was sitting outside the room. 

“Any news?” 

The policeman stood up and shook his head. 

“No, Mr Queen. Mr Wilson has a guest inside right now.” 

Oliver nodded. 

“Yes. Mr Wayne. I’m aware.” 

Without another word, he turned away from the policeman and opened the door. He let Thea and Dick walk in first, before stepping inside and closing the door behind him. Bruce, who was standing next to Slade’s bed, turned around, his face rid of any emotions. 

“Mr Queen.” 

“Wayne. What are you doing here?” 

Bruce glanced to Dick and Thea, who were standing next to each other. 

“I’m here to talk to Dick.” 

“And what makes you think you can do that?” 

Blue eyes turned to Oliver, a first sign of surprise shown on Bruce’s face. Seeing that, Oliver raised his head a bit and took a step towards him. 

“This is my city.” 

Bruce frowned. 

“Mr Queen, I have no intention of causing any trouble in your city. I simply wish to talk to my son.” 

“I’m not your son.” 

Dick seemed to be surprised at himself, but Thea just smiled next to him and linked their arms together, offering him silent comfort. Oliver shook his head slightly. 

“You don’t understand me, Wayne. You are not welcome in this city. Not as long as I’m here.” 

Bruce’s frown deepened. It was clear that he was trying to figure something out. 

“That island really changed you, didn’t it, Mr Queen?” 

Oliver smirked. 

“Yeah. It did. You know what I used to do to get foo? Sometimes, I would take my bow out into the night and shoot down bats. No matter how big they were. No matter how scary they tried to make themselves. I haven’t had to do that since I came back here, but I wouldn’t have any problems doing it. Am I making myself clear?” 

The frown disappeared from Bruce’s face. He nodded slowly. 

“I see. Maybe this talk should be continued later. On the hospital?” 

Oliver shook his head. 

“The highest roof. Better spot.” 

Bruce nodded slowly and opened his mouth but, before he could say anything, the door opened and a boy walked in. He couldn’t be more than eleven or twelve. He had black hair and sea-green eyes. They widened when he saw all the people, before he grinned and bounced over to Bruce. 

“B. There is a soda machine in one of the corridors. Can I have some coins for it?” 

Dick was watching the boy with big eyes. The boy, most probably noticing the tense atmosphere, turned around to look at everyone. His eyes widened even more when he saw Dick. 

“Shit. You’re Dick Grayson, right? Alf told me about you. Like everything. You’re so cool.” 

He ran over to Dick and stuck his hand out. 

“I’m Jason Todd. Bruce took me in. I’m helping him out. I even got a suit like yours. The colours are a bit odd, but I like them.” 

Noticing that Dick had started to shake against her side, Thea quickly pulled out some coins and stretched them out to the boy. 

“Jason. Mind getting me a soda as well?” 

The boy looked at her with a frown, before glancing back to Bruce. He must’ve noticed something in his expression, because he nodded, grabbed the money and ran out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Dick looked at Bruce with anger. 

“I haven’t even been gone for a month. And you’ve already replaced me. I guess it tells us all we need to know about how much you cared about me.” 

Bruce took a deep breath. 

“Dick. Listen to me.” 

“No.” 

Oliver’s sharp voice cut him off. 

“This is not the time or place to talk about this. Meet us tonight, and we can talk. And stay away from the hospital. Because I will have you arrested if you come here again.” 

Bruce looked between him and Dick for a moment, before nodding and walking out. As soon as he was gone, Dick pulled away from Thea and sat down heavily on the edge of Slade’s bed. The girl walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Before she could say anything, the door opened again and Jason walked inside. 

“Um. I have your soda.” 

Thea smiled at him and grabbed it. 

“Thank you.” 

He nodded and glanced over to Dick. 

“I… Uh… It’s an honor to meet you.” 

Dick looked at him with an odd look in his eyes. 

“You want some advice from a former Robin?” 

The boy nodded quickly, his eyes lighting up with joy. 

“Take your things, run and never look back. Nothing good awaits you with Bruce Wayne.” 

Jason’s joy seemed to dim. He looked at Dick with shock, before turning away and running out of the room. Oliver sighed. 

“That went well.” 

Dick looked up at him with raised eyebrows. 

“You just threatened Bruce and didn’t get beaten up. I’ll say this was a success.” 

Oliver glanced towards the door. 

“That really bothered you, didn’t it?” 

The boy lowered his eyes. 

“The kid? Yeah. Bruce shouldn’t have children. He doesn’t know what to do with them. He didn’t with me.” 

Then he moved to the chair and grabbed the book from the table. 

“I’ll stay here for some time.” 

Oliver nodded. 

“Sure. Thea? Could you stay here too? In case he decides to come back.” 

She nodded and made herself more comfortable at the foot of Slade’s bed. 

“I have to make a few calls. Once you’re done here, come back to the Foundry. And be careful. Both of you.” 

And he left, already pulling out his phone. He needed to contact a few people. 


	10. It Terrifies Me

An hour later, Dick put the book on the table next to the bed and looked up at Thea. She gave him a grin. 

“You’re so going to read for me from now on.” 

She jumped off the bed and stretched. 

“What do you say about lunch out in town? There is a great taco stand next to the park.” 

Dick frowned. 

“But Oliver said…” 

“To go back to the Foundry once we’re done here? So what? We don’t have to follow every word he says, you know.” 

Her grin fell slightly when she noticed his expression. 

“Wait. Did Wayne…?” 

“Bruce always expected me to follow everything he said.” 

Thea shook her head with frustration, before clapping her hands. 

“Alright then. Let’s go get some food.” 

She stretched her hand out towards Dick, the grin still on her face. After a few seconds of hesitation, Dick stood up and grabbed it. Thea’s grin widened. 

“We’ll swing by my flat first. Some of Ollie’s clothes should fit you.” 

Dick frowned. 

“What’s wrong with these clothes?” 

Thea looked him up and down. 

“Roy didn’t exactly take good care of these and Oliver has been in four bike accidents in that jacket. I’m sure we can find you something more fitting.” 

He shrugged at her. 

“Alright. Let’s go, then.” 

They left the hospital hand in hand, Dick throwing one last look at Slade. Thea led him through the city, still holding his hand. A few people turned on the streets, and she threw him an apologetic look. 

“Sorry for all the stares. Me and Ollie usually have that effect on people here.” 

Dick shrugged. 

“No worries. I grew up in a circus and then lived with the richest man in Gotham. I’m used to the spotlight.” 

Thea laughed quietly as she pulled him up the stairs and into the apartment. 

“Alright. Sit down on the couch. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” 

And she ran into the guest bedroom that Oliver used to stay in. Very slowly, Dick walked over to the couch and sat down. He had to admit that he was slightly overwhelmed. He had come to see Slade. To talk to him. Ask him about the truth. A truth that he knew Bruce wouldn’t give him. He hadn’t planned to get involved with Green Arrow and his team. He hadn’t even thought about staying for longer than a few hours. The door to the bedroom opened and Thea came back to the living room. She was holding some clothes and a pair of black sneakers. 

“Here. There is a bathroom over there. Go change.” 

Dick hesitated for a few seconds. He could still go. Screw finding out the truth. Just leave. He should. Go back to Gotham. Maybe ask Gordon if he could stay with him and Babs. Keep an eye on Jason. Thea tilted her head. 

“Dick?” 

He grabbed the clothes and smiled. 

“I’m fine.” 

And he hurried into the bathroom. As quickly as he could, he changed into the black jeans and t-shirt, putting on a leather jacket over it. First when he looked into the mirror to check his hair, did he realize that the t-shirt had the Green Arrow logo on it. He shook his head. Bruce would flip out if he saw him like this. After pulling on the sneakers, he walked out and spun in place with his arms out. Seeing that, Thea laughed. 

“Show pony.” 

She stretched her hand out to him and he grabbed it without hesitation. He liked Thea. She was different than almost anyone he had met before. She dragged him out of the flat and into the street. Almost immediately, people turned to look at them. Thea glanced at him with sudden worry but he just smiled at the crowd and winked at a woman who was giving them a glare. The woman turned away quickly and Dick turned back to Thea. She grinned at him. 

“Oh, I’m so keeping you.” 

He snorted quietly and let her pull him along the streets, a comfortable silence falling over them. They got to the park a few minutes later and stopped in the que to the taco stand. Thea turned to him and frowned. 

“You look worried.” 

She squeezed his hand. 

“Is this about that kid? Jason?” 

Very slowly, he nodded. 

“Yeah. I… I’m worried about him. Bruce isn’t good with children. At first, when he adopted me, I thought that he simply didn’t know what to do. But as years went by, and he didn’t change, I understood that he simply doesn’t care about me. I don’t know why he even adopted me in the first place. I have no idea why he took in Jason. But I don’t want him there. I mean, where did he even get him?” 

Thea tilted her head. 

“I could ask Felicity to check him out. His last name was Todd, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

Right then, they got to the front of the que. Quickly, they both ordered and Thea paid for their food, before they took it and walked further into the park. Dick found them a spot under a big tree and they sat down on the grass. 

“I’ll ask Felicity to help us out with this. If he is an orphan, and isn’t officially adopted, maybe we could figure something out.” 

Dick smiled. 

“Thank you.” 

“No worries. Now. Let’s talk about something else. You said you were from a circus, right?”

Dick nodded. 

“Go on then. Tell me all about it.” 

Thea leaned against the tree and listened with a smile as he started talking about the circus. He told her everything. About the animals, all the people, the towns they had performed in. After slight hesitation, he told her about his parents too. About all the good times they had as a family. Before either of them noticed, an hour had passed. They sat there talking, until Thea’s phone started vibrating. She pulled it out and frowned. 

“It’s Diggle. Yeah. Hi. What’s happening?” 

She listened for a few seconds, before an odd look appeared on her face and she nodded. 

“Sure. We’ll be there soon.” 

She ended the call. Dick tilted his head. 

“Is everything alright?” 

Thea smiled at him. 

“Slade just woke up.” 

But her excitement died when she noticed the nervous look on his face. 

“Dick? Aren’t you happy?” 

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, before falling backwards so that he was lying on the grass. After slight hesitation, Thea moved closer to him and started stroking his hair. He closed his eyes and sighed. 

“I… I don’t know. For so long, when I thought of Slade, I thought of some of the worst moments of my life. People usually have nightmares about monsters. I had nightmares about Slade. For so many years, he was the ultimate evil. Even worse than Joker. And then I found out about him being my father. And I was even more terrified. Because what kind of monster does something like that to his own child. It wasn’t until I found out about Mirakuru that I realized that there was more to this story than I thought. That’s why I came here. To talk to him and find out the truth. To see if he even cares about me. When I saw him, comatose, it was easy to talk to him. Easy to pour my heart out when he couldn’t answer. But even thinking about actually talking to him, with him being awake? It terrifies me.” 

Thea sighed, and moved her hand from his hair to his cheek. 

“Dick. Look at me.” 

His eyes opened and met hers. 

“It will be fine. Ollie will be there. Slade won’t try anything with him there. And, if you want to leave at any moment, you can. No one will stop you.” 

She smiled at him. 

“You’ll be fine.” 

Then she stood up and stretched her hand out to him. After slight hesitation, he grabbed it and let her help him to his feet. 

“Alright. Let’s go.” 


	11. Did You Know?

When Thea and Dick walked into the hospital room, it was already full. Oliver and Felicity were on one side of Slade’s bed, Diggle and Lance on the other. They were all talking in loud voices, but stopped when they noticed the newcomers. Oliver and Thea exchanged a look, while Dick’s eyes were glued to Slade. Very slowly, Thea pulled the boy closer to the bed, squeezing his hand in encouragement. He followed her a few steps, before stopping again. Slade looked at him for a few seconds, and them turned to Oliver. 

“Mind leaving us alone for a moment?” 

Seeing the way Dick almost flinched at the sound of his voice, Oliver almost said that he would stay. But, before he could say anything, Felicity grabbed his arm. 

“We’ll wait outside. Diggle, Quentin.” 

The two men quickly left. Oliver frowned at Felicity, but she just smiled and looked pointedly at the way Thea was still holding Dick’s hand. With one last look at the boy, Oliver nodded and followed the woman outside. Thea squeezed Dick’s hand again. 

“You want me to stay?” 

The boy seemed to search for something in Slade’s expression. When he didn’t find it, he shook his head. 

“No. I… I think I’ll be fine.” 

Thea nodded with a slight smile.

“We’ll be right outside.” 

She let go of his hand and walked out of the room, making sure to close the door behind her. Slade frowned slightly, before nodding towards the book on the table. 

“It’s not a bad book.” 

Dick almost jumped. 

“You… You heard me?” 

Slade made a move to sit up, but stopped when Dick flinched violently. His eye filled with sadness and understanding. 

“Kid. I won’t hurt you.” 

The boy shook his head. 

“You already have, and you know it.” 

Slade looked him straight in the eyes as he slowly sat up. This time, Dick stayed still. 

“I heard everything you said. And everything Wayne said when he was here.” 

Dick sighed heavily and pulled the chair away from the bed, before sitting down in it. Slade looked like he wanted to comment on the way the chair was out of reach of the bed, but stopped himself and just smiled slightly. They sat in silence for almost two minutes, before Dick asked quietly: 

“Did you know?” 

Slade frowned. 

“You might want to elaborate on that.” 

“When you forced me to become your apprentice. Did you know then that I was your son? Or did you figure it out after?” 

The man seemed to hesitate for a second, before shaking his head. 

“I didn’t know when I tricked you. All I knew was that you were exactly what I wanted. A successor. Someone I could mold to be exactly what I wanted. And I was ready to do anything to keep you where I wanted to have you. I started to realize who you were when I saw the resemblance between you and Mary. And I knew. Haly had told me that my son died. A tragic accident. Tried to play with the tigers. Didn’t understand the consequences.”

He snorted. 

“I fell for it. My mind was clouded by Mirakuru. I found you, started to train you, and then noticed how alike you and Mary are. I checked the DNA and found out the truth.” 

Dick’s eyes widened. 

“Is that why you didn’t put up a bigger fight? When the Titans came to get me back.” 

Slade raised his eyebrows. 

“Bigger fight?” 

“Oh, come on. We both know that you could have killed us all that day.” 

Very slowly, Slade nodded. 

“I could have. The Mirakuru wanted me to. But I didn’t want to.” 

Dick tilted his head. 

“What would you have done if you had known from the beginning? Would you have…” 

“Shot your friends and forced you to work for me? Maybe. I was unpredictable while on Mirakuru. It’s very possible that I would have done that. Or maybe I would have gone after Batman. Tried to kill him for keeping you away from me.” 

The boy nodded, an unreadable expression on his face. After a few seconds, Slade leaned forward a bit. Dick tensed up, but stayed where he was. 

“Why did you come here? After everything I’ve done, after all I put you and your friends through. Why did you really come here?” 

“Because I didn’t want to judge you until I knew the whole story. Until I knew the truth.” 

Slade huffed out a laugh. 

“Just like Mary. Alright then. You know everything now. What is the verdict?” 

Dick shook his head, sudden nervousness appearing on his face. 

“I have one more question.” 

And, seeing the man nod, he continued. 

“Oliver. Was I a replacement for him? Was that why you wanted to train me? Because you couldn’t train him anymore?” 

With another headshake, Slade started laughing. He fell back against the pillows, his body shaking slightly from laughter. Dick looked at him like he had suddenly gone mad. After almost an entire minute, Slade managed to calm down enough to talk. 

“I’m sorry, but it’s just comical. Oliver has asked me the exact same question when he and I were talking about Wintergreen. But to calm your thoughts, no, you were not a replacement. If anything, Oliver was your replacement.” 

Dick frowned. 

“You were two when I had to go away on assignments. One mission led to another and another and, before I knew it, I was stranded on Lian Yu with no way out. I didn’t want to drag you and Mary into any of my messes, so I didn’t keep contact with her while on assignments. When I came back, I found out that you two were dead. But while I was on the island, I started seeing you in Oliver. I started caring about him, the way I cared about you.” 

Very slowly, Dick stood up and walked over to the bed. Slade froze, not wanting to spook him. Dick looked down at him, before shaking his head and stepping away again. 

“I… I’m sorry. But after all you put me through, I don’t know if I can do this.” 

Slade smiled. 

“Kid. I know things between us will never be alright. And I understand that there is no forgiveness for what I did to you and your friends. But, if you want to, I’m willing to try again. Try being your father again.” 

Dick looked at him with big eyes. 

“I would like that. But…” 

He hesitated. Slade frowned. 

“What?” 

“Bruce. You said you heard our conversation.” 

“Yes. But you’re 18. He has no right to do anything.” 

Dick huffed out a frustrated breath and started to pace around. 

“That’s not it. I’m not worried about myself. I can deal with whatever Bruce tries. But he adopted another child.” 

“Jason. You’re worried about him.” 

The boy nodded and sat down again. 

“Yeah. I’m worried how Bruce will treat him. What he will tell him.” 

Slade seemed to consider it for a few seconds, before he looked calmly at Dick. 

“Don’t worry about that. I’m sure that Oliver is already looking into this.” 

“But…”

“No. No buts.” 

Dick shrugged. 

“I’m told I have a great one.” 

Slade spluttered while Dick gave him a shit-eating grin. 

“You… I… You little shit! You’re my son! I don’t need to hear those things.” 

“You and mom literally named me Dick. I can’t be self-conscious about things like that. And people objectifying my body is one of the less terrible things that others do. I mean, I’ve been called pretty much every word in the book. Gypsy, orphan, charity case, circus freak. And those are just the nicer ones. People can really get creative these days.” 

Slade looked mad but, for once, Dick was completely relaxed, so he forced himself to calm down. There was no way he would scare the boy off now that he was talking and smiling. 

“For your information, we named you Richard. After Mary’s favorite uncle. And John after my grandfather. It’s a pure coincidence that Grayson’s name was John. Mary barely spoke english when I met her. She called you her little Dickie. No one in the circus had the heart to tell her what it really meant.” 

Dick shrugged. 

“It’s fine. Really. I like my name. But I think I want to keep Grayson as my last name. I mean I know that it should be Wilson, but I don’t think I’m ready to change it yet.” 

Slade nodded with a smile. 

“I understand.” 

Then he turned towards the door and raised his voice. 

“You can come in again!” 

Immediately, the door opened and everyone went inside. Seeing Dick’s questioning gaze at Lance’s absence, Oliver explained quickly:

“Lance had to go back to the station. He’ll meet us tonight in the Foundry.” 

He sat down on the edge of Slade’s bed, Felicity sitting down next to him. Diggle took the last chair, leaving Thea standing. She looked around the room and, shrugging her shoulders, sat down in Dick’s lap. Automatically, he put his arms around her waist, before freezing. But he relaxed again when she leaned against his chest and gave him a smile. Seeing that, Oliver and Slade exchanged a surprised look, before Oliver rolled his eyes. This didn’t have to mean anything. Thea was like that with people she trusted and was close with. The next two hours were spent on small talk. Felicity and Thea caught Slade up on everything that had happened after he went into the coma. Diggle told him about the training between Oliver and Dick and how Dick had kicked Oliver’s ass. That made Slade laugh and comment that maybe Oliver had gone soft in old years. Oliver had retorted with the tale about how Slade had slipped on mud once and accidentally stabbed himself in the leg. That in turn had made Dick burst into uncontrollable laughter, making him almost knock Thea off his lap. When it was starting to get darker outside, Oliver stood up and stretched. 

“Alright. We’ll be heading back to the Foundry. We need to change before we go talk to Wayne. Felicity. You and Diggle are staying in the Foundry. Keep in contact with Lance. Dick, Thea. You two, as well as Dinah and Raven, are coming with me.” 

“You don’t seem worried about Batman.” 

Oliver turned to Diggle. 

“He has one big disadvantage.” 

Diggle frowned. 

“What?” 

Before Oliver could answer, Dick spoke up in a quiet voice. 

“He doesn’t really trust anyone. He’s alone.” 

Oliver nodded. 

“Exactly. He’s alone. We’re not.” 


End file.
